“Future Wings“ is an International Project co-financed by the European Union under the 7th Framework Programme

“Think of an airplane as a great body with its end structures (wings, horizontal tail surfaces, vertical tail surfaces)that could have the possibility to change their shape as they had internal nerve endings and muscles ...”

The Project moves starting from a very simple concept: “let us think of an airplane as a great body with its end structures that could have the possibility to change their shape as they had internal nerve endings and muscles” ...The aerodynamic shape of aircraft lifting surfaces must change during the flight, owing to the aerodynamic requirements of the different maneuvers (ascent and descent operations, yaw). Mobile surfaces are introduced in conventional wings to this purpose (ailerons, flaps, slats etc.), introducing at the same time inevitably additional weight, mechanisms, sources of vibrations and other known limits.An interesting alternative to mobile surfaces could be represented by “self shaping wings”, i.e. wings the surface of which can be elastically deformed through its entire length, and managed in order to obtain the required lifting profile. Such wing performances could be obtained through the application of composite hybrid materials where layers of new generation of piezoelectric fibers are drowned, and trigged by relatively low voltage. Target of the research is the deep understanding of the technical feasibility and of the limits of such an application. Depending on the results, “self shaping wings” (or “Future Wings”) could be more deeply investigated and designed in order to replace ailerons, slats, tail wings, rudders and, probably, even flaps: the relevant technology could have really wide fields of applications.

“Wings of the Future” is a Collaborative International Project. It has received funding from the EU 7th Framework Programme under GA n.335042. The Project was scored at the 2th place in the ranking list of the funded Projects of Call FP7-AAT-2012-RTD-L0.